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Comparing the caracal with the perhaps better known serval, it is not as tall but less slender. The head is quite elongated in comparison to random bred domestic cats. DNA testing puts it “closer to the domestic cat” than the lynx to which it was once thought it was closely related. However, it is more closely related to the African golden cat.
The face has a sleek appearance with a flat forehead. The jaw is short and the bite strong. The face has distinctive facial markings. There is a fine dark line running down the middle of the forehead and two, sometimes faint, short lines either side of it. The nose leather is dark brown/black and the underside of the chin and the throat is white as is the area adjacent to the nose. There is also white fur around the eyes. The face has an intense, slightly fierce appearance.
Caracal description – reference
1. Wild Cats Of The World page 39 ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77999-7